'There’s been a dreadful mistake. I got a G in maths'

Diane Morgan has been awarded an honorary degree by her hometown university.

The Philomena Cunk and  Motherland star was awarded the Doctor of Arts by the University of Bolton for her outstanding contribution to television and comedy.

She told the audience at the Albert Halls in Bolton Town Hall: ‘I should not be here today. I shouldn’t. There’s been a dreadful mistake. I got a G in maths. A G!

‘But I thank you for your generosity. Thirty years ago just outside this building I bumped into Maxine Peake who is also a Boltonian. We had met two weeks earlier when we were both auditioning to get into Manchester Polytechnic for the acting course. Neither of us got in.

‘It took us three long years to get into drama school and during that time I had various jobs – packing worming tablets, selling fish and chips and I was also an Avon Lady.

‘Most of these jobs I’d been sacked from. I was fired from the Last Drop Village tea rooms in Bolton for not knowing what a cream tea is. I thought it was a tea with cream in it. But now I have an honorary doctorate! Unbelievable.

‘I am here to tell you that anything is possible. If you’ve got passion and you work hard, you can do absolutely anything, because everyone told me that I wouldn’t be able to make it as an actress, that it was an impossible dream, that you’d need maths! You don’t need maths! You don’t need maths for anything! Take that Rishi Sunak!

‘This is such an honour. I am so proud, thank you so much.’

Morgan is from the town of Farnworth and attended George Tomlinson School, Kearsley, now Kearsley Academy.

Published: 18 Jul 2023